In the final Round of the North American Dragon Duel World Championship Qualifier, 11 year old Zachary Taylor remains as the only Duelist with a perfect 6-0 record. However, still undefeated, 13 year old Andrew Fruend is sitting at 5-0-1 because of a draw and is looking to try to take the first seed for Top Cut with a win in this last Round. Taylor is using a Qliphort Deck trying to take over the game with Qliphort Scout backed up by powerful Traps. Fruend on the other hand is using a Burning Abyss strategy that works to combo the effects of his Malebranches to maintain both advantage and aggression, trying to disrupt with removal Traps such as Raigeki Break and Karma Cut.

Fruend won the roll and chose to go first.

Duel One:

Fruend started with Foolish Burial, sending Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard to Special Summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck. He then revealed Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and Special Summoned it. He overlayed it with the Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to Xyz Summon Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, using its effect detaching Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to send three cards to his Graveyard. He Set two to his back row before ending, adding Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his hand thanks to Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.

Taylor opened with a hand of Qliphort Carrier, Skill Drain, Fiendish Chain, and two copies of Qliphort Helix before drawing Vanity’s Emptiness. He Normal Summoned Qliphort Helix and Set all of his Traps to the back row before ending.

Fruend drew and activated Karma Cut, discarding Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to banish the opposing Qliphort Helix, but Taylor used Vanity’s Emptiness guarantee that Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss wouldn’t get its effect. Fruend pushed forward by using Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, sending three cards to his Graveyard and triggering Barbar, Malebrancheof the Burning Abyss to deal 900 Life Points. Taylor made sure to Flip his Set Skill Drain to negate the effect of Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, making sure it won’t gain any ATK.

Taylor drew Pot of Duality, Normal Summoned Qliphort Carrier, and attacked over Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss for 1400 points of damage allowing Fruend to add Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his hand thanks to Dante.

Fruend drew and Set a Monster before ending his turn.

Taylor drew Lose 1 Turn, he Normal Summoned Qliphort Helix and declared attacks with it and Qliphort Carrier; he destroyed Fruend’s Set Mathematician and attacked directly for 2400 putting Fruend down to 4200 Life Points. He Set Lose 1 Turn before ending.

Fruend drew and still didn’t have very many options, Setting a Monster and a back row before ending.

Taylor drew Solemn Warning and declared an attack with Qliphort Carrier but had his Qliphort Helix temporarily banished by the Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss that he destroyed. He Set Solemn Warning to his back row before ending.

Fruend drew and slammed down Dark Hole! Both of Taylor’s Qliphorts were destroyed and Fruend continued the pressure by Normal Summoning Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and making a direct attack, putting Taylor down to 3500 Life Points before ending.

Taylor drew Summoner’s Art but with a full back row was forced to end his turn.

Fruend tried to attack with his Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss but lost out to Taylor’s Fiendish Chain! He ended without any further action.

Taylor drew Qliphort Scout! He put it on his Pendulum Scale and paid 800 Life Points to add Qliphort Monolith to his hand, but lost the Monolith to Fruend’s Mind Crush!

Fruend drew and Normal Summoned Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, declaring a direct attack to put Taylor down to 1400 Life Points before passing back.

Taylor drew another copy of Lose 1 Turn, a fairly unfortunate draw given the circumstances. He paid 800 Life Points, putting himself down to 600 Life Points, to add Qliphort Stealth to his hand. He Normal Summoned it and tried to declare an attack on Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, which Fruend let through, putting Fruend down to 2700 Life Points before ending.

Fruend drew and Normal Summoned Tour Guide from the Underworld! He declared an attack and without any useful defense, that was the Duel!

Both Duelists quickly moved to their Side Decks as they looked to improve their chances. They wished eachother luck and Fruend announced that he was going to go first in the second Duel.

Duel Two:

Fruend opened with a hand of Raigeki, Qliphort Scout, Qliphort Disk, Necrovalley, and Apoqliphort Towers. He placed Qliphort Scout in his Pendulum Zone and then paid 800 Life Points to add Saqlifice to his hand via its effect. He then Normal Summoned Qliphort Disk, equipped it with Saqlifice, and activated Necrovalley before ending.

Taylor drew and Normal Summoned Mathematician, using its effect to send Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to his Graveyard. The Libic triggered Special Summoning Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his hand, which he then overlayed with Mathematician for Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss. He used the effect of Dante, detaching Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, sending Dark Hole, Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, and Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the Graveyard. This then triggered the effect of Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to Special Summon a Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from his Deck in Defense Position. He declared an attack with Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss on the Qliphort Disk, dealing 400 points of Battle Damage but not destroying Qliphort Disk thanks to Saqlifice. After his Battle Phase, he Set four cards to his back row before ending.

Fruend drew Lose 1 Turn and slammed down his Raigeki, but Taylor had a response with Crush Card Virus! Fruend lost his Apoqliphort Towers from his hand along with Qliphort Disk. The Raigeki resolved, destroying the Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss, but its effect was stopped by Necrovalley. Fruend got to search for his Saqlifice and added Qliphort Carrier to his hand. When he tried to use Qliphort Scout Taylor Flipped his Set Spell Shattering Arrow! He lost both his Necrovalley and Qliphort Scout to the devastating Spell card. He Normal Summoned the Qliphort Carrier and attacked with it, before Setting the Lose 1 Turn and ending.

Taylor drew and gave a bit of a smile. He Flipped his Set Raigeki Break, discarding Mistake, tow blow away Fruend’s Lose 1 Turn before slamming down Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning! He attacked over Qliphort Carrier and then directly again with its effect, putting Fruend down to 800 Life Points before ending.

Fruend drew a Fiendish Chain, a glimmer of hope, and Set it before ending.

Taylor drew and used Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Fiendish Chain and attacked directly with Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning for game!

After an intense set of Duels, Andrew Fruend’s Burning Abyss Deck emerges victorious over Zachary Taylor’s Qliphort Deck to end the tournament with an undefeated 6-0-1 record!